Brand new Corolla TS 2.0 aesthetic issues

[s_corolla]

5 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

This is also an option if you like the car and want to keep it. 
As others said many owners will not notice these gaps, will not care about them and in most cases these will not cause any further issues.
However if they don’t want to pay some money back to reimburse you for the inconvenience, and you decide to keep the car every time you look at it you will get upset and this will kill all the pleasure of owning a brand new car , and a Corolla hybrid, which I call the best in class. 
It’s up to you. 

Thanks for the tips. I will keep you all updated on the outcome.

[Mr Billiards]

I have an Oct 2023 2ltr Gr Sport Hatch, white with black roof, panel gaps and paintwork are excellent. Only issue I had with my car was a squeaky rear wiper blade which was changed in the first few days of ownership.

The best car I have had for accurate panel gaps was my previous 2021 Mazda 3 GT Sport Tech. Build quality was spot on inside and outside. However I have to say the Corolla drives better than the Mazda. 

The worst car I had was a brand new Hyundai i30n Performance. Very poor build quality, dashboard rattles all over the place, the sat nav screen failed after 3 days of ownership and oil leaks from the gearbox at 355 miles on the clock. I rejected the car outright under the 30 day right to reject act, as advised by my local citizens advice.

Now and again the odd bad car gets through the system, list all the faults in a letter to the sales manager and reject outright under the consumer rights act 30 day right to reject.

 

 

 

[s_corolla]

3 minutes ago, Mr Billiards said:

I have an Oct 2023 2ltr Gr Sport Hatch, white with black roof, panel gaps and paintwork are excellent. Only issue I had with my car was a squeaky rear wiper blade which was changed in the first few days of ownership.

The best car I have had for accurate panel gaps was my previous 2021 Mazda 3 GT Sport Tech. Build quality was spot on inside and outside. However I have to say the Corolla drives better than the Mazda. 

The worst car I had was a brand new Hyundai i30n Performance. Very poor build quality, dashboard rattles all over the place, the sat nav screen failed after 3 days of ownership and oil leaks from the gearbox at 355 miles on the clock. I rejected the car outright under the 30 day right to reject act, as advised by my local citizens advice.

Now and again the odd bad car gets through the system, list all the faults in a letter to the sales manager and reject outright under the consumer rights act 30 day right to reject.

 

 

 

Does your horn button rattle slightly in a corolla?

[fred88]

I realise mine is 30 months old now but I have to say that I don't get any of the annoying rattles etc that I've read about in this and other threads. I've not noticed any uneven panel gaps either, but maybe that's because I haven't looked closely (as somebody alluded to above). 

Having said this there is one issue that I do experience and that's the clicking noise from the drivers window but that seems to respond to a good dowsing of a Silicon spray lubricant so I don't count that as an issue. 😉

[s_corolla]

Is it normal to get low Battery after a few minutes of using the car in accessory mode, i.e listening to radio? Or maybe I have parasitic drain 🙂

[newda898]

I'm sorry, but I lost it when we had photos of going round the car measuring gaps with a calliper.

[s_corolla]

5 minutes ago, newda898 said:

I'm sorry, but I lost it when we had photos of going round the car measuring gaps with a calliper.

Lol, that is just for evidence purpose, it is cleaely visible by naked eye if you pay attention 🙂

[Corolly Poly]

42 minutes ago, s_corolla said:

Is it normal to get low battery after a few minutes of using the car in accessory mode, i.e listening to radio? Or maybe I have parasitic drain 🙂

Yes. Ready mode is your friend 

[s_corolla]

3 minutes ago, Corolly Poly said:

Yes. Ready mode is your friend 

How about the Battery voltage if you have ever measured, mine is reading 12.4v

[Mr Billiards]

4 hours ago, s_corolla said:

Does your horn button rattle slightly in a corolla?

No, I have not experienced any rattles in 11 months of ownership and 9500 miles. 

[TonyHSD]

5 hours ago, s_corolla said:

How about the battery voltage if you have ever measured, mine is reading 12.4v

12.4v it’s just about right.
When you start the car in ready mode should be anything above 14v , usually 14.3-14.8v. 

[W1P30UT]

I don't often post on this forum, but regrettable have recent experience of rejecting a Toyota.

 

After owning several Toyota and Lexus vehicles, I recently had to reject a Corolla. Rejecting a car isn’t easy, and you need to have clear faults. For instance, a 12-volt Battery warning isn’t necessarily a fault, but a failure to start and discharged Battery is a fault. My car arrived with three scratches, a poorly fitted towbar with sharp, ragged edges, a 12V warning light, and excessive engine vibration. Initially, the garage denied there was an issue, but they later found a faulty engine mount. My car was off the road for three months, and I gave the garage multiple opportunities to fix it. Toyota agreed to buy the car back, and I received my deposit, but they are still charging me for the monthly repayments for the car, and I am waiting for that refund of the monthly payments. I collected the car at the end of April, rejected it at the beginning of July, returned the car with keys and V5 in early August, and I am still waiting for all my money. Toyota customer services have been very disappointing, and I believe Toyota may have failed in respecting my rights under consumer and finance law. I am still waiting for Toyota to fully resolve this saga which has been ongoing since April.

Think very carefully before rejecting a car to ensure you are being reasonable and if it’s worth the fight. In my situation, I had a strong case, and the car quality was poor, and I don't regret rejecting. Hopefully I will see all my monies soon.

I now own a Honda CR-V, and after 3,000 miles, I haven’t had a single fault or complaint, and no 12V low Battery warnings.

 

[s_corolla]

21 minutes ago, W1P30UT said:

I don't often post on this forum, but regrettable have recent experience of rejecting a Toyota.

 

After owning several Toyota and Lexus vehicles, I recently had to reject a Corolla. Rejecting a car isn’t easy, and you need to have clear faults. For instance, a 12-volt battery warning isn’t necessarily a fault, but a failure to start and discharged battery is a fault. My car arrived with three scratches, a poorly fitted towbar with sharp, ragged edges, a 12V warning light, and excessive engine vibration. Initially, the garage denied there was an issue, but they later found a faulty engine mount. My car was off the road for three months, and I gave the garage multiple opportunities to fix it. Toyota agreed to buy the car back, and I received my deposit, but they are still charging me for the monthly repayments for the car, and I am waiting for that refund of the monthly payments. I collected the car at the end of April, rejected it at the beginning of July, returned the car with keys and V5 in early August, and I am still waiting for all my money. Toyota customer services have been very disappointing, and I believe Toyota may have failed in respecting my rights under consumer and finance law. I am still waiting for Toyota to fully resolve this saga which has been ongoing since April.

Think very carefully before rejecting a car to ensure you are being reasonable and if it’s worth the fight. In my situation, I had a strong case, and the car quality was poor, and I don't regret rejecting. Hopefully I will see all my monies soon.

I now own a Honda CR-V, and after 3,000 miles, I haven’t had a single fault or complaint, and no 12V low battery warnings.

 

I feel that engine vibration is stronger than with a regular ICE car but I noticed that on other hybrids too. The only thing that is annoying is some sort of rattling that I can hear sometimes which I believe is some plastic components not being super tight. It's sort of a sound when the bus is at rhe bus stop and you hear the windows vibrating.

Honestly if they offer at least 2K refund I would keep the car in case I don't discover futher issues. My problem is that I pay the same price as somebody else but my car has lower resale value due to panel misalignment and scratches.

[W1P30UT]

Quote

22 minutes ago, s_corolla said:

I feel that engine vibration is stronger than with a regular ICE car but I noticed that on other hybrids too. The only thing that is annoying is some sort of rattling that I can hear sometimes which I believe is some plastic components not being super tight. It's sort of a sound when the bus is at rhe bus stop and you hear the windows vibrating.

Honestly if they offer at least 2K refund I would keep the car in case I don't discover futher issues. My problem is that I pay the same price as somebody else but my car has lower resale value due to panel misalignment and scratches.

 

Insist they examine the engine mounts, mine was faulty from the factory. They told me the vibration was a  characteristic of the hybrid, but having owned several I knew this not to be a characteristic, and insisted on a proper inspection. They then later found a faulty engine mount from factory.

 

[twintopp]

mine seems spot on as it should be, stick to your guns and don`t take no for an answer.

[s_corolla]

I have got 2 responses from the dealership, one from the person who sold me the car and another from the general manager.

The person who sold the car reched out to master technician who contacted product quality person at Toyota GB. Toyota GB said this is within spec but I can return the car if I wish. This sounds strange to me knowing how difficult it is to return the car.

The general manager told me a different story, he said that Toyota aims for perfection but this is within tolerance according to service book. He asked me to bring the car for them to fix it and I refused, then he suggested that someone from Toyota factory will come to inspect the car which I think would be quite unusual but let's see how it goes.

Since I am 50 miles away from the dealership I have a feeling this will be dragged until I get fed up of driving back and forth.

Once they establish that there is a panel misalignment and if they refuse to take the car back I need to start another conversation regarding the big scratch on the fan control panel.

I have a neighbour who is a car mechanic who confirmed that those gaps on a new vehicle are unacceptable without a substantial discount. I am planning to go to a body shop nearby to ask for their opinion.

[Heidfirst]

7 minutes ago, s_corolla said:

Since I am 50 miles away from the dealership I have a feeling this will be dragged until I get fed up of driving back and forth.

 

I note that your are in Midlothian, may I ask you to name the dealer?

[s_corolla]

2 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

I note that your are in Midlothian, may I ask you to name the dealer?

Macklin Motors Toyota Hamilton (Glasgow)

[s_corolla]

As expected, the dealership is prolonging the saga as much as possible. I went to authorised toyota body shop who confirmed that panels are messed up and that I should either live with it or reject the car. In the meantime,I've had a chance to check the price of a new fan panel display that I have received with a scratch, it is £1347 hence the reason they didn't replace it before collection.

[Mojo1010]

I reckon the car should be rejected, hand them back the keys & v5 etc and walk out if they object. 

[s_corolla]

4 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

I reckon the car should be rejected, hand them back the keys & v5 etc and walk out if they object. 

Do you think it can be done this way? If they don't call the finance company to cancel the agreement I will still be paying for the car that I don't have. They said they received the specs from toyota and have asked me to bring the car on Friday so they can measure and report back to Toyota.

I have a feeling they will say at the end why did you drive the car if you didn't find it of satisfactory quality.

Any idea how to fight back in the digital world? I already provided review to toyota's delivery survey. It the saga continues I plan to do it on Google and Auto Trader. Not sure if there is anything else that I can do to spread the word.

[sportse]

The weekend newspapers have car columns where they help owners with issues, you could try them. 
 

some cars have accidents before delivery and are repaired, but it’s pretty poor that Toyota are saying that it is in spec when it should be perfectly aligned. 
 

rejection would be best as it avoids delays in getting a resolution. Maybe the finance company can assist if the product they are financing isn’t of suitable quality. 
 

when rejecting a car, I know Honda recommend a charge of 45p a mile. High, but worth it to reject rather than have issues. 

[Paul john]

9 hours ago, s_corolla said:

Do you think it can be done this way? If they don't call the finance company to cancel the agreement I will still be paying for the car that I don't have. They said they received the specs from toyota and have asked me to bring the car on Friday so they can measure and report back to Toyota.

I have a feeling they will say at the end why did you drive the car if you didn't find it of satisfactory quality.

Any idea how to fight back in the digital world? I already provided review to toyota's delivery survey. It the saga continues I plan to do it on Google and Auto Trader. Not sure if there is anything else that I can do to spread the word.

Certainly here would not be the best place to start your smear campaign. 
if you have the car on PCP have you considered the option of returning the car and cancelling the agreement?

[s_corolla]

23 minutes ago, Paul john said:

Certainly here would not be the best place to start your smear campaign. 
if you have the car on PCP have you considered the option of returning the car and cancelling the agreement?

I called the finance company to cancel within 14 days but they said the dealership has to do that. They advised I should push the dealership to cancel before first payment is due but they obviously don't care much.

[s_corolla]

I have a question for 2.0 TS owners, do you have the plastic cover over the engine? I didn't receive it with mine.